I am a long-time supporter of the Republican Party and endorse your efforts to bring our great party to a strong leadership position in the coming mid-term election. I vote with my wife in southern Delaware where the political scenery is questionable.

I am writing because the liberal press has recently indicated that you are now addressing a clearly worn out position on abortion(s). Reince, perhaps no one agrees with you more than I. Most good Republicans probably do as well. However, I cannot think of one other way in which you will not lose more votes, especially from women. I am shocked that you do not have the political intelligence to know that this is the wrong issue to address as leader of the Party of Lincoln.

Mitt Romney had it right when he stated he was against abortion, but fully respected the voice of any woman in this issue.

This issue is dynamite and I strongly feel that from now on you should avoid it.

Reince, I am lecturing and I apologize. However, in my view it is your duty to find the best possible conservative candidates to represent their constituents. Perhaps, and at this juncture, it is also important to bring the party together on national and state levels and establish a game plan which the great majority of us can support and will fight for.

This is the role of a good leader. I believe you could shape an outline of the principles our founding fathers set forth and find one, two or three problems that this country faces. Then devise a game plan, prepare a simple program that all voters can understand, and help our candidates sell these to all the people, Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and of course, Undecided. Let’s take the high road.

Daniel G. Anderson
Rehoboth Beach

The GOP needs to trick people into thinking that they aren’t obsessed with women’s reproductive health issues. That’s the ticket!

Comments (20)

Good luck with that. Republicans made women’s reproductive rights their issue (seriously, they love to wax lyrical about it) and it’s not going to go away. Even if they tried shutting up about their favorite topic, “no comment” is no longer a viable option. They own this topic.

This *was* the Compassionate Conservative strategy by BushCo, right? Look all moderate and reasonable during an election and after they capture the flag, get all Mussolini on the rest of us. Shame on us if we fall for this Bullshit again.

Not to mention that the contraceptive mandates of Obamacare that they are fighting so hard against, actually cut the abortion rate in half…. Far fewer abortions than ever achieved under any Republican Policy, even fewer than existed before Roe vrs Wade made abortion legal.

Mr. Anderson should know that Delaware’s RNC committeewoman, Ellen Barosse, sponsored a recent resolution urging GOP candidates to address abortion very clearly during their candidacies. Barosse is pushing the opposite of what Mr. Anderson has asked of Priebus.

“It also says the party ‘will not support the strategy of Republican pro-life candidates who stay silent in the face of such deceptive rhetoric.’
And it ‘urges all Republican pro-life candidates, consultants, and other national Republican Political Action Committees to reject a strategy of silence on the abortion issue, when candidates are attacked with ‘war on women’ rhetoric.’
‘The stakeholders at the RNC recognize that staying silent in the face of those horrific accusations is a losing strategy,’ Barosse said.”

Abortion is a very personal and touchy subject with no absolute, clear, agreed upon definition of what it fully entails or what solutions there can be to a beneficial end to the situation.
For instance, at what time in gestation can a fetus be perceived as a baby?
I would think that the issue is somewhat subjective, but definitive laws on the issue have to be made regardless.

It’s only natural that certain populations and states would have different takes on the aspects and timing of abortion procedures, and the politicians from those areas will represent this. That doesn’t mean that there is a Republican “war on women”
I agree with Daniel G Anderson though. All it takes is for one Republican to say one thing about it, and the media will blanket the whole party in it. I’m sure the new mantras and narratives are already on deck.

No, technically speaking it’s a war on reproductive rights, but only women’s reproductive rights, that is, her right to put her own concerns over that of a potential child’s.

The notion that it should be OK for some states to restrict women’s rights — held by many people who can’t admit they are assholes who have problems with female sexuality — is an odious one.

In keeping with the GOP/conservative effort to name everything for maximum political effect, this is called the “war on women.” “Patronizing, hyper-controlling assholes toward women” is more accurate, but harder to fit on a bumper sticker.

Live with it. It’s a lot closer to true than 99% of what you’ll hear on Fox News.

Also, the message behind this is clear: Republicans should stop telling the truth about what they want to do in office, because people won’t vote for their unpopular programs if they know the truth. Good luck with that.

“Also, in what way is abortion a “personal” subject for anyone but the woman and her partner? Sorry, but some people’s willingness to act like assholes over abortion does not make it their business.”

But you do agree that there needs to be laws, which there are, that regulate the practice.

You see, this is the point. People aren’t all the same. The amount of regulation put on abortions in one state by the duly elected law makers, (as granted by Roe v. Wade), may not necessarily be acceptable by the population in another state. That’s what’s so advantageous and unique about our republic.

“All it takes is for one Republican to say one thing about it, and the media will blanket the whole party in it.”

Yes, with reporting like “Anti-choice is in the GOP plank.”

Anderson is pro-life. He just don’t want it talked about so he can win elections. Based on his other full page ads in the Cape Gazette, I suggest he wants abortion to take a back seat so his party can win elections and he can get tax cuts, deregulation and elimination of the social safety net.

“But you do agree that there needs to be laws, which there are, that regulate the practice.”

“No, I don’t agree. Those decisions can be made by the woman and her doctor.”

Really? This is a surgical procedure. Should it not be held to all the same standards of every other surgical procedure?

To be clear, I’m pro choice. However, your statement suggests that a woman should be free to choose any barely licensed back-alley hack to perform an abortion, simply because “it’s between a woman and her doctor.”

Oh, were we really discussing surgical procedures? Nope, not at all. In order for anyone to believe that spin they’d have to show where I’ve ever stated anything like this. Go on, I’ll wait. Or just reread this thread on Republican policies/bills.

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